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Jacobs, owner of the Boston Bruins of the NHL is reported to be the favorite to acquire his home town team in what will be a hard fought battle with property tycoon, Donald Trump.
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Jeremy Jacobs, owner of the Boston Bruins since the mid-1970s, is reportedly considering to be doing the unthinkable and selling the club in order to purchase the Buffalo Bills. The Bills suddenly have come on the market, after the passing of the long-term owner Ralph Wilson, with his widow Mary being almost immediately named the Bills’ controlling owner.
Despite the fact, that, according to NFL rules, agreement to sell a particular franchise can be only be given at the annual owners’ meeting. However with the last one being held at the end of March, just a few days after Wilson’s passing at the age of 96. Speculation is that any ownership transfer will be settled well before that.
According to speculation, the two main players emerging in what could be a battle to gain control of the Buffalo Bills are Jeremy Jacobs and his family, and Donald Trump, who has recently begun to display an interest in getting involved in the world of professional sports.
One major barrier that Buffalo born Jeremy Jacobs will have to overcome is his ownership of the Boston Bruins who play in the NHL. According to NFL rules, owners of a major pro sports franchise, irrespective of which sport, and the seller from owning a NFL team, unless they were based in the same city.
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This ruling would mean that if Jacobs where to succeed in his efforts to acquire the “ Buffalo Bills” he would be required to part company with the Bruins. Even at this early stage, it has been suggested that one of Jacobs’ ‘ three sons could possibly sell their shares in the Bruins, which would mean that they could become the controlling owner of the Buffalo Bills. No matter which permutation, if the deal were to go through it would have to be incomplete compliance with the NFL’s ownership rules.
Jacobs will have another, and possibly much more challenging, battle to face when he comes up against the Trump Organization. A spokesperson for the organization has already confirmed that Trump has already expressed his interest in purchasing the Bills, as well as reassuring the Bills fans that that were their bid be successful. The team would be remaining in the Western New York region, with a long-term lease in place, that is guaranteed to ensure that team remains playing in Buffalo till at least 2019.
Bidding for the Bills would need to start at around its current market value of $870 million, which should not represent too much of a problem for Jeremy Jacobs with an estimated personal fortune in excess of $3 billion.
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Jeremy Jacobs is both Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Buffalo based Delaware North Companies as well as being the owner of the Boston Bruins.
Jeremy took over the running of Delaware North in 1968 at the age of just 28 when his father passed away.
Delaware North was founded by Jacobs grandfather and is one of the largest privately owned companies in North America, particularly active in the hospitality industry, as well as sports, airport, gaming and entertainment, employing more than 55, 000 people throughout the world, with an annual turnover in excess of $2.7 billion.
Amongst their extensive property interests, Delaware North are the owners and operators of Boston’s TD Garden, the home stadium to the Boston Bruins as well as the Boston Celtics of the NBA, also serving as one of the most popular concert venues on the East coast of North America.
Jacobs is as well known in the sports industry as he is for his business interests, having become a regular feature in the Sports Business Journal’s list of the most Most Influential People in Sports, as well as being [inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in October 2006.
Jacobs represents the Boston Bruins on the National Hockey League Board of Governors as well as having served on its Executive Committee and being elected to chairman of the board in June 2007.
In August of 2013, Jacobs was presented with the “St. Jude Award for Inspiration in Sports for that year at the Global Sports Summit held in Aspen, Colo. The Global Sports Summit an annual gathering of key figures covering a very broad spectrum of spectator sports , taking in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS as well as leading associations governing European soccer.
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